I first heard Mary Halvorson in 2007 with Anthony Braxton’s Diamond Wall Trio at the Guelph Jazz Festival. This wonderful trio included the fabulous Taylor Ho Bynum on trumpet.
On Sunday, 1 December 2012 my wife, a friend and I heard Halvorson’s quintet at the Wexner Center on The Ohio State University campus. The quintet consisted of Halvorson, guitar; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Jon Irabagon, alto saxophone, John Hébert, bass; and Ches Smith, drums. The bassist and drummer, we are told, form the nucleus of Halvorson’s groups. Of the quintet that I heard on Sunday, only the acoustic bass of Hébert invited appreciation and admiration. I suspect the other musicians are quite competent. But I found Halvorson’s guitar in the way of the music most of the time. A drummer can often provide the rhythmic glue to even the most disparate musical elements and desperate aspirations of the musicians and their audience. But Ches Smith’s percussion aspirations weren’t up to the task. The trumpet and alto saxophone never had a proper chance to make music.
Mary Halvoson is reported to be a conscientious composer. Her charts were much on display on stage. Indeed, it appeared to me, at least, that what the audience was subjected to was a futile sight-reading exercise or music exorcism.
There’s no need to pursue this line any further. I thought the music was awful. Halvorson’s ‘compostions‘ were full of off-putting gimmicks and visual tricks. I quite dislike guitar-notions such as Halvorson’s. I prefer not being a citizen of any guitar nation.
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